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An creek so shallow you scarcely got your ankles wet separated a village for more than four decades worth of time. By an accident of landscape, the 50 inhabitants of Mödlareuth, a hamlet encircled by evergreen groves, pastures and spectacular scenery, found themselves at the core of the Cold War conflict. They had the bad luck to cross Bavaria, in Western Germany, and Thuringia in the Eastern part, a frontier that was marked first by a fence and then by a wall. US troops nicknamed it Mini Berlin.

Memorialising Historical Events

A few months after their own barrier was opened, and even before their state had become one in 1990, a assembly of residents set about commemorating their history. The work is about to be completed: on 9 November, the 36th annual commemoration of the demolition of the German barrier, the Museum of German Division Mödlareuth will begin operations. It was formally inaugurated by the national president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the beginning of October, but the display wasn’t quite ready. Addressing the villagers who lived through the former times, Steinmeier stated: “You were observers of an cruel split, which ripped households apart and turned neighbours into foreigners.”

“You were bystanders of an brutal split, which tore families apart and turned neighbors into aliens.”

Historical Origins

Even at its establishment in 1810, the community straddled the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Princely State of Reuss, a noble lineage best known for bestowing all its male members the designation Heinrich and numbering them consecutively by birth. As Steinmeier related to the crowd, the quirk was never an obstacle in the path of the locals gathering in the same pub, going to the very same religious building and placing their children to the very same educational institution.

Following WWII Division

Subsequently occurred the second world war. Immediately after they arrived, the Russian troops put up wooden posts by the creek. For a twelve months they occupied the whole village, establishing their headquarters in a building on the Bavarian side, embellishing it with a portrait of Stalin and a red star. The American soldiers persuaded them to pull back across the stream. For a time, locals could continue to jump across, though as limitations increased they were obliged to present ID, although all was aware who they were, and to come back at night.

Intensification of Boundary Controls

After that, in 1952, came barbed wire and the legal shutting of the border. In 1966, as in Berlin previously in 1961, a concrete structure was constructed, with landmines, anti-tank obstacles and guard posts. The residents could still see each other by scaling hills, but on the east side waving and shouting were banned. A female resident was added to a East German secret police watch list for answering “likewise” to a Bavarian resident who greeted her “prosperous new year”.

Heritage Site Establishment

I was told narratives like these incidents by Robert Lebegern, the director of the museum, who has dedicated a significant portion of his occupational time creating it. Residents were asked in the initial phases about how how long a section wall they desired to preserve. They opted for a portion on the Bavarian edge, near where a local resident managed to escape in the dead of night with a ladder, following which the border was significantly fortified.

Preserved Buildings

Two watchtowers are preserved together with a series of displays illustrating the most significant events in the community’s history. As we move, Robert Lebegern enumerates the restrictions: no one could come within 5km of the frontier. Agricultural workers required particular approval to look after their crops; the husband or wife could use the harvesting machine but under no circumstances both, for fear that they sought to flee. Military personnel were on duty.

Larger Background

The border between Western Germany and the East Germany stretched 1,400 kilometers, from the northern sea in the northern part to the south in the southern region. Berlin is recalled and honored the most, but in excess of twice as many persons (exceeding 300) lost their lives attempting to traverse it in rural areas than in the big city. the director reminds me that 95% of attempts to flee did not succeed.

Hamlet Existence

The greater part of Mödlareuth’s villagers were farmers or artisans, who adapted to living in the ambiguous area between two ideological spheres by staying low-profile and looking after their land. They neither supported the socialist government nor fought it, Robert Lebegern states.

Visitors

For sightseers, however, the settlement became a kind of site of interest. Approximately fifteen thousand came to visit annually, viewing tools in possession, to stare – and then quickly leave. In 1983, the United States leader, George Bush, was shown around by the German defence minister.

Twenty-five years after merger, the television series, a TV series about a imaginary hamlet like Mödlareuth, caused new curiosity.

Present-Day Developments

The inauguration of the modern exhibition center – with a coffee shop, shop, cinema room and big parking lot – is expected to